>> pelley: tonight, now lance armstrong has the federal government on his tail. bob orr on the justice department suing the disgraced cyclist for fraud. a judge decides whether oscar pistorius can go free on bail. emma hurd was in the courtroom with the olympian charged with murder. the washington budget crisis threatens essential government services. >> it would be an economic disaster and there would be no winners. >> pelley: ben tracy in los angeles on whether food safety will be compromised. and steve hartman "on the road" with the incredible act of kindness that brought a mother to tears. >> i think i'll cry about it for the rest of my life. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening.

many of lance armstrong's victories were painted red, white, and blue. his team sponsor was the u.s. postal service and, in the late 1990s, the agency could hardly believe its luck, that it had put its money on a man who became arguably the greatest endurance athlete of all time. well, today color the pofl service embarrassed. the u.s. justice department announced this afternoon that it will join a civil lawsuit that claims armstrong defrauded the federal government. here's bob orr. >> reporter: the lawsuit as lance armstrong broke his sponsorship contract with the u.s. postal service by using performance-enhancing drugs while winning multiple tour de france titles. the postal service paid at least $31 million to sponsor armstrong's cycling team and now the justice department wants that money back and could seek total damages approaching $100 million. the lawsuit, first filed by armstrong's former teammate floyd landis in 2010, claims the

team knowingly caused the united states postal service agreements to be violated by regularly employing banned substances and methods to enhance their performance. that charge brought strong denials from armstrong at the time. >> he's got no proof. it's his word versus ours. >> reporter: but in 2011, another teammate, tyler hamilon, told "60 minutes" armstrong did used banned substances, including the blood doping agent e.p.o. >> he took what we call all took. really no difference between lance armstrong and, say the majority of the team. there was e.p.o., there was testosterone. and i did see a transfusion, a blood transfusion. >> reporter: last month, armstrong admitted the doping in an interview with oprah winfrey. >> i view this situation as one big lie that i repeated a lot of times. >> reporter: despite the

admission, armstrong's lawyer says the lawsuit is without merit. in a statement, attorney robert luskin claimed the postal service actually profited from armstrong's victories. >> reporter: armstrong and his attorneys tried to keep the government out of the case by offering a multimillion dollar settlement but the justice department turned down that deal, demanding the disgraced cyclist pay a higher price. if the government wins, scott, floyd landis could get to a fourth of the total damages. >> pelley: almost $25 million. bob, thank you very much. this is a big turn about for the government. it was a year ago the justice department dropped a criminal investigation of armstrong. the evidence against him now first came out in secret testimony in that criminal case. but the department of justice dropped the case without explanation before a grand jury even had a chance to vote on

indictments. that's when the head of the u.s. anti-doping agency, travis tygart, pressed ahead and brought armstrong down. in his only interview, we spoke to tygart for "60 minutes." when you first heard that the u.s. department of justice was going to investigate whether criminal charges were appropriate in this case, what did you think of that? >> i thought it was absolutely appropriate. it was the right thing to do. federal taxpayers, close to $40 million, were paid to this team to run what we now know was the most sophisticated and professionalized drug program the world has ever seen. >> pelley: after the criminal investigation was dropped, travis tygart pressed ahead and developed the evidence that cost armstrong his titles and resulted in his lifetime ban from sports. last month, tygart sent this letter to the u.s. attorney general urging him to join the fraud lawsuit. tygart wrote that armstrong's

scheme was "one of the greatest frauds in the history of sport." he called armstrong's previous denials "cold, calculated lies." >> i think a jury should have an opportunity to decide whether the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars that were defrauded by this team and lance armstrong and his associates, whether or not the government should be paid back for that. >> pelley: tygart's u.s. anti-doping agency said today that the lawsuit "holds promise for returning the many millions of federal dollars in ill-gotten gains generated by this fraud." another famous athlete in serious trouble, oscar pistorius, is free tonight after paying about $113,000 in bail. pistorius, a double amputee who ran in the olympics on custom blades, is charged with murdering his girlfriend. emma hurd is in pretoria, south africa. >> reporter: oscar pistorius was driven away from court, the world's media trying to catch a

glimpse of his first moments of freedom after eight nights in a police cell. >> the accused has made a case to be released on bail. >> reporter: magistrate desmond nair made the ruling after a two-hour summation to gasps of relief from the pistorius family. but the judge cast doubt on the athlete's version of events. during the hearing, pistorius testified he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder, shooting four times through a locked bathroom door while she was on the other side. >> i have difficulty also in coming to terms with the fact that the accused did not seek to verify who exactly was in the toilet. >> reporter: the biggest twist came when it was revealed the lead detective on the case, milton botha, was facing seven charges of attempted murder himself. an embarrassed prosecution replaced its investigator. pistorius broke down repeatedly during the hearing, his whole body shaking when the ruling

came. reeva steenkamp was gina myers best friend and roommate. reeva's bedroom now lies empty, just as she left it the night she died. >> i do go through a lot of stages of disbelief because it doesn't feel real. this is a very, very weird sensation. >> reporter: the drama of this bail hearing has set the stage for a gripping trial. sources on both sides of this case have told cbs news that there's plenty of evidence that hasn't been revealed yesterday. we understand that phone records and cell phone text messages will be key to establishing what happened that night. under his bail terms, pistorius must surrender his passport and turn in his guns. he is free to resume his training, but his focus will be on staying out of jail. >> pelley: and emma hurd joins us now from the courthouse in pretoria. emma, what happens next? >> reporter: well, the next

court hearing is on june 4, but it could be many months before the case comes to a full trial. both sides have an interest in delaying this case. the prosecution knows that there are mistakes in the police evidence and that there's a new investigator on the case and the defense isn't in any rush to get back into the courtroom now that oscar pistorius is out on bail. he does have a limited amount of freedom, although he does have to check in at a local police station twice a week. >> pelley: emma, thank you very much. now that big winter storm that buried the middle of the country. it is on the move, dumping snow over the great lakes and heading toward new england now. plows were in heavy use today in omaha and all over the midwest. we asked dean reynolds to have a look. >> reporter: from oklahoma to michigan snow totals ranged from half a foot to a foot and a half. slick roads caused this collision in iowa. kansas reported 120 accidents in

the state. there were another 300 in minnesota. heavy snow caved in roofs and airline schedules were snarled in omaha, chicago, and st. louis. ice caused this jet to skid off a runway in cleveland. nobody was hurt. but some midwesterners welcomed the storm. when you woke up this morning and you looked out here and saw this snow, what did you think? >> any little bit of moisture recharge we get is always great. >> reporter: george richardson's family has farmed this land in spring grove, illinois, since 1840. the persistent drought that has parched almost half the country cost him 50% of his corn crop last year. >> i think we would need many feet of snow and then a nice slow thaw so that moisture would sink into the ground. >> reporter: now, forecasters are predicting above-normal precipitation this spring from the mississippi river valley all the way to the great lakes so,

scott, drought conditions in this part of the country may actually improve. >> pelley: a silver lining, dean. thanks very much. well, another weather story really surprised us. we heard that today for the first time residents were being allowed to move back to a jersey shore town that was devastated by hurricane sandy. it has been four months since that storm so we asked michelle miller to look into that. >> reporter: this is what mantoloking looked like the day after sandy, the town was sliced in half by the ocean. the only bridge to town was washed away. dozens of fires burned along ruptured gas lines. so you had a bird's eye view. >> i could see everything from up here. >> reporter: laurence nelson road out the storm from his second floor bedroom. >> it was utterly frightening to look out and see water everywhere. >> reporter: he managed to move almost everything he owned to the second floor, including his wife's kitchen mixer.

what husband would think of the mix master? you would. >> the one who has to replace it. >> reporter: (laughs) nelson was among a handful of homeowners who were finally allowed to go back to their homes. every one of the 521 houses on that barrier island were damaged. electricity is still touch-and-go. >> little by little it's coming back. >> reporter: there it is! >> there it is. >> reporter: george nebel is mayor of mantoloking. why did it take so long? >> we had a lot of work to do. we were the hardest hit in new jersey. 40% of our homes need major work are are gone. >> reporter: 56 homes were completely destroyed. we have a long way to go. >> three to five years. >> reporter: three to five years? >> that's my estimate. >> reporter: laurence nelson figures it will take him two months to repair all the damage. >> we have friends that don't even know where their house is. it just washed away. it doesn't exist anymore. when you think about those kinds of situations, you just thank

your lucky stars. >> reporter: the mayor says his top priority is fortifying the sand dunes that could protect mantoloking from future storms. scott, you can see what happens without them. >> pelley: a long road ahead. michelle, thank you very much. the f.d.a. has approved a new breast cancer drug. we'll tell you how a kopitar getted by christopher dorner helped lead police to the fired officer. and why has the most expensive warplane ever built just been grounded? when the "cbs evening news" continues. custom number. gave me my my arches needed more support until i got my number at the free dr. scholl's foot mapping center. i'm a believer! and you will be too! go to drscholls.com to find your closest walmart with a foot mapping center. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart.

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discontinue androgel and call your doctor >> pelley: for ten days, a fired los angeles police officer out for revenge targeted other cops and their families. now it turns out that within two days of his first killings, investigators knew who they were looking for thanks to one of the cops on the hit list. john miller joins us now with that story. john? >> well, scott, as you remember, christopher dorner was fired from the l.a.p.d. in 2008 after an l.a.p.d. board determined he lied when he claimed that his training officer, teressa evans, kicked a handcuffed suspect. dorner later made a hit list that included taking revenge on all the people involved in their case and their families. the first victims, monica quan and her fiance keith lawrence were killed sunday, february 3. at first the motive for killing

quan-- an assistant basketball coach-- and lawrence, a police quan-- an assistant basketball coach-- and lawrence, a police officer, was a mystery. the next day in national city, california, tphao *r the mexican border, a collection of police equipment is found in a dumpster. a gun belt, some ammunition and dorner's police name tag and a notebook with the name theresa evans. now, when police called officer evans she told them dorner made a complaint against her back in 2008 and had been fired for making false statements. on tuesday evening in the police station's parking lot she overheard officers talking about the quan murder. now, evans made a connection there but it was a long shot. she recalled that quan's father had been dorner's lawyer in the case. evans contacted detectives who then did internet searches and found the facebook page that contained dorner's hit list. quan was on it, so was evans. they also found his manifesto. but for that hunch, scott, who knows how far he could have

gotten before they knew that it was him and what it was about. >> pelley: great police work, john, thank you very much, appreciate that. in medical news, there is a new weapon in the battle against breast cancer. the f.d.a. today approved a drug called kadcyla, it targets the cancer while sparing a healthy cells so there are fewer side effects. studies found patients with advanced breast cancer who tooked kadcyla lived about six months longer than those treated with other cancer drugs. could the battle over the budget have an impact on your health? we'll look at food safety next. before copd... i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe,

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>> pelley: mark your calendar: march 1 is one week from today, the day that automatic spendingl budget. the cuts were designed to be so deep and harmful that the president and congress would have to find a better way. but there is no sign of that. essential government services will be cut back and we asked ben tracy in los angeles to look into food safety. >> the dart meat is going over our head as we speak. >> reporter: this poultry plant near downtown los angeles processes 30,000 to 40,000 chickens each day. george saffrons owns the operation which, by law, is constantly inspected by the u.s. department of agriculture. how often do you see an u.s.d.a. inspector and what do they do when they come? >> we see one almost everyday. it comes at different times.

they look at your paperwork, they look at your receiving logs, they walk around your plant to make sure sanitation is being done. >> reporter: officials at the agriculture department estimate automatic budget cuts would slash $2 billion from their budget and force them to furlough one-third of their workers. that includes all food inspectors. if there are no inspectors, is there anything you can do in here with chicken at that point? >> no. i can't open the box, i can't repack it, i can't cut it, i can't trim it, i can't marinade it, i can't do anything to it. >> reporter: so you're basically shut down at that point. >> absolutely. >> reporter: agriculture secretary tom vilsack sent a letter to the senate warning of a nationwide shutdown of meat and poultry plants costing businesses $10 billion and employees $400 million in lost wages. the administration predicts consumers could find shortages at grocery stores and higher prices. do you think this is just scare tactics or do you think this is going to happen? >> well, i hope it doesn't happen. it would be an economic disaster

and there would be no winners, the democrats wouldn't be winners, the republicans wouldn't be winners and obama certainly wouldn't be a winner. >> reporter: among the losers would also be saffron's 140 employees. he says he would be forced to lay them off. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> pelley: we're getting details tonight of a leak at the hanford nuclear reservation in washington state where many of america's nuclear weapons materials were produced. the governor says six tanks are leaking radioactive waste, but federal energy officials told him there is no immediate health risk. the pentagon today stopped test flights of the f-35 fighter jet after inspectors found that one of them had a cracked engine blade. the f-35 has cost taxpayers about $400 billion already and is years behind schedule. we will end this week with our choice of the play of the week. "on the road" with steve hartman is next.

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but this story doesn't have a hollywood ending-- it has something better, a steve hartman ending "on the road." >> i know you guys get tired of me. it's little things. >> reporter: coach peter morales of the coronado high school in el paso, texas, makes no qualms about it. he has a favorite. >> mitchell, i need you to help me out with my coaching tips. >> reporter: team manager mitchell marcus has a developmental disability and he far surpasses everyone here when it comes to love of the game. >> he's an amazing person and our basketball team loves being around him. >> reporter: mitchell's mom amy says he's always been that way. amy says he's always been that way. >> mitchell always had a basketball, that was always what he wanted for his birthday. >> reporter: and because basketball is that important to him, on the last game of the regular season the coach told mitchell to suit up. what was it like to put on the uniform? >> i was very happy. >> reporter: i bet you were. just wearing a jersey was enough for mitchell. but what he didn't know-- what no one knew at the time-- was that the coach planned to play

him. at the end. no matter what the score. you were prepared to lose that game. >> for his moment, yes. for his moment in time, yes. >> reporter: so, with a minute and a half left, coronado leading but only by ten, coach morales put in his manager. >> and just starting hearing "mitchell, mitchell." >> reporter: but here's where the fairy tale fell apart. although his teammates did everything they could to get him a basket, each time they passed him the ball e either missed the shot or, like on their last possession, booted it out-of-bounds, turning the ball over to the other team with just seconds left. >>. >> he wasn't going to be able to score but i was hoping he was happy to go in the game. >> reporter: could you have imagined what happened next? >> i could not. not at all. >> reporter: what happened next happened on the inbound. the guy with the ball there is a senior at franklin high school. number 22, john than montanez.

>> i was raised to treat others how you want to be treated. i thought mitchell deserved his chance it was his opportunity. >> i think i'll cry about it for the rest of my life. >> what jonathan did was yell ott out mitchell's name then threw the ball right to him. right there. one of the most memorable turnovers of all time. (cheers and applause) it wasn't the game-winning shot. when the buzzer sounded, coronado had 15 more points than franklin. but jonathan's assist and mitchell's basket did change the outcome decidedly. to play any game with this much sportsmanship, both teams win. steve hartman, "on the road" in el paso, texas. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, i'm scott pelley. i'll see you sunday for "60 minutes" presents.

six county students claimed by murder since school started in august. >> the amount of crime solver's tips, they have been absolutely through the roof. >> the obama administration is warning americans they'll feel the effects of automatic budget cuts. >> we have been thinking about that. >> hiring somebody? >> with this? >> no way. >> absolutely not. >> i have come to the conclusion that the accused has made a case. >> we will get to all those stories in just minutes, but first, we have pesky wintery mix out there, and they'll have freezing rain may come our way overnight. what's the deal, top? >> i think if you are